$300-$400 at the very most to build with

[Dachy]

I'm in my planning process and looking to upgrade my computer which is a AMD 1.2ghz Thunderturd, ABIT KT7A-RAID, and a Geforce fx 5600 256mb. I'll need to get a new mobo for sure because I'm pretty limited with the kt7a, i believe I can run a few lower end XP's with a new BIOS but that's about it. I'd like to hit atleast 2ghz on cpu speed. I was reading an article here on an Intel Celeron 2ghz OC'd to run at 3ghz which came out to a total of $300 or so. the mobo used in the article (which is 2 years old) is hard to find and I was wondering if anyone would reccomend the intel cel route and if yes what mobo should I go for if I plan to follow that article? Sorry I can put together a new computer but I'm not l33t

 

[Viper2004]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Celeron = no! Celerons suck, don't even bother getting one. That xp you have now is already better than it. What are the things that you really want to upgrade? It will be easier that way to tell what you should get.

 

[LmpPns]

Celerons don't suck. Mobile Celerons (basically .13nm Wilamettes that overclock much more) and the Prescott based desktop Celerons are actually a viable choice for gaming. But in any case, I would still recommend an Athlon XP or something like that over a Celeron for gaming, because, for one.. It will perform atleast better than a Celeron "D" and the platform will cost less. I would only recommend the Celeron if you did gaming on top of a sizable amount of video/audio editing, or other applications that require large amounts of bandwidth. If then, only the Prescott one.

[edit]
Oh yeah, and that is also assuming you overclock your Celeron.
[/edit]

 

[alien dork]

Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Item# N82E16820156006 $77.99


ASUS "A7N8X-X" nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813131468 $65.00

AMD 45 Watt Mobile Athlon XP 2500+, 266 FSB, 512K Cache - OEM
Item# N82E16819103401 $88.00



use your old case, hard drive and video card in addition to the items listed above. I think that it is a good enough system. the mobile xps are really good for overcloking(their multipliers are unlocked). you also need to get a fan of your choice for the cpu. the total is about $230 + heatsink for cpu, so itz $250ish. by the way all the items above are from newegg.com hope this helps.

 

[Dachy]

i definately want to overclock. i'm upgrading my computer to play doom 3 (ok that's what pushed me to finally do it) and to do some 3d animation with 3d studio max. i also do a bit of video editing. i'm probably going to take about a month to decide so i haven't made any decisions really which is why i came to you guys for advice. i dont have an XP right now, i have a 1.2 ghz thunderbird and I'd have to upgrade my bios to run an xp, and even then I wouldn't be able to go higher than a +1800 so I plan to replace the mobo and cpu. i would also consider spending a little more than 3-400... anymore suggestions? thanks for the help so far!

 

[greenman100]

Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Item# N82E16820156006 $77.99


NF7-s $85.00

AMD 45 Watt Mobile Athlon XP 2500+, 266 FSB, 512K Cache - OEM
Item# N82E16819103401 $88.00

Fortron 350 $40.00

SP97 w/ fan $40.00

think about upgrading vid card

if you sell your old stuff, you can get a nice upgrade for $400

 

[alien dork]

Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Item# N82E16820156006 $77.99

AMD 45 Watt Mobile Athlon XP 2500+, 266 FSB, 512K Cache - OEM
Item# N82E16819103401 $88.00

Fortron 350 $40.00

SP97 w/ fan $40.00

copy cat lol

 

[Dachy]

What would be a good harddrive for me to run? and what's the best mobo for the AMD 45 Watt Mobile 2600? (and should it be the 2500 or the 2600?) And should I really bother upgrading my Geforce FX 5600 or should it do fine for doom 3, 3d studio max etc etc?

 

[AK50]

Well u could run the athlon 64 combo (3000+k8t neo) thats $240. $80 for some pc3200 ram brings u up to $340(both at newegg). $60 left whatever else you feel that u need psu or save. Maybe try and see what you can get for your 5600 put that towards a new card. Overall not the cheapest but you decide figure out your limit build accordingly And make sure to look around for best prices take some time but save some money.

 

[MrBrian]

Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Item# N82E16820156006 $77.99


NF7-s $85.00

AMD 45 Watt Mobile Athlon XP 2500+, 266 FSB, 512K Cache - OEM
Item# N82E16819103401 $88.00

Fortron 350 $40.00

SP97 w/ fan $40.00

think about upgrading vid card

if you sell your old stuff, you can get a nice upgrade for $400

/agree

 

[w00p]

Be sure to get an upgrade for your PSU, too...
Coming from a thunderbird 1.2 I guess you'd have a 280-300W PSU
A fortron 350W is definately a good choice!

 

[shard]

hey dude, get the A64/mobo combo, and then sell your other stuff and spend that money on a new vid card, like a 9800pro or something

 

[Dachy]

how fast can i go with the a64 combo?

 

[alien dork]

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=309956
this guy got it to run at 2.6ghz or so. i can only get mine (different board) to run at 2.2ghz or so.

 

[shard]

real fast

a AXP has to be 400mhz faster then the a A64 to be even comparable

and the smart doom box is a A64 3000+ Newcastle with about 512mb ram, and a 9800pro

and a real good mobo for the A64 is the EPoX EP-8KDA3J or the EP-8KDA3+

they are bolth real good OCers

and most 3000+ are hitting in the 2.5ghz range, but remeber a AXP has to be 2.9ghz to compare!!

 

[Dachy]

okay so what is the best money spent.. the a64 or the 45 watt 2600 mobile?

 

[alien dork]

i would get a64, just because the future of computing is goign to be 64 bit based. that means your a64 will last you years to come while axp is at the end of its time. i just installed windows 64 and i think that it is a lot faster than regular windows xp (one of the reasons is that i don have anything loaded on win64). if i were u i would go for a64 (you'll have sonething to brag about to ur friends).

 

[alien dork]

Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model HDS722580VLSA80, OEM
Item# N82E16822145049 $67.49

OCZ Premier Value Series, 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
Item# N82E16820146998 $88.00

EPoX "EP-8KDA3J" nForce3-250Gb Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813123219 $99.00

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor - Retail
Item# N82E16819103486 $175.00

MSI ATI RX9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/S-Video, 8X AGP, Model "RX9800PRO-TD128" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16814127127 $193.00

total::::::: $$$$$ 622.49

that would a sweet rig (similar to mine )

 

[Dachy]

argh.. it looks like $250 on the amd mobile.. and then atleast 400 on the a64... i think i'll have to slack and go with the mobile cause once i get a new job and finish my truck i'll be able to drop a load on a whole system later, thanks for all the great help!

 

[alien dork]

EPoX "EP-8KDA3J" nForce3-250Gb Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813123219 $99.00

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor - Retail
Item# N82E16819103486 $175.00

if you add $99.00 + $175.00, the sum comes up to be $275, $25 mroe than the mobil rig that you were talking about. It does not cost $400+ unless you add in all the other extra stuff. i don see how you came up with $400+